Her Cowboy

Chapter 42

"Annabeth—wait, Annabeth!"

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in to try to get rid of the annoyance, before turning.

We'd had a "pow-wow" in the barn office right after the little incident—Aphrodite, Luke, myself, Kronos, and Athena.

It seems Aphrodite had picked up that her plan to do the movie on the Jackson Ranch hadn't gone as smoothly as she hoped, and so she wanted to make sure we were still good with moving forward, as we didn't have the budget for another setting change.

I barely manage to soften my features before an arm grabs mine and turns me back toward the barn.

Well, apparently I didn't soften my face enough, because when Luke sees me he flinches and quickly lets go of me.

"I just—uh, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

My jaw clenches. I open my mouth to say, for the hundredth time, that I'm fine, but then I shut it. It's just me and Luke. I saw Kronos leave with my mom back toward the house to discuss the remaining filming schedule. I was tired of lying.

"Luke, I just need some time, okay? Things aren't—things haven't been—it's just been harder." I swallow, trying to watch my words. "Being back here. Being around everybody. Acting."

Oh, the acting I've been doing. Ironically, it seems I've had to pull on my acting mask more often when a camera wasn't in my face the past few days.

"I know, Annabeth. It's been a lot."

In that moment, listening to his shallow words, watching Luke as his eyes flitted nervously, his hands jammed in his pockets like a kid who's been caught, shoulders hunched like he was trying to hide from the dimming sunlight, timidity radiating from him, I asked myself—what did I ever see in him?

Anger rose in me, and I rushed to temper it. "No, Luke. I don't think you know."

I turned on my heel, trudging off toward my trailer.

"Annabeth, Kronos told me."

I froze. He knows?

"I just wanted to say thank you."

Now I turned, looking as he briefly met my eyes before drawing them away again. He was ashamed. I could see that.

"You know about my—my, uh, financial issues." He pursed his lips, still avoiding my eyes. "I really need this movie to work out."

I stood still, unsure how to respond.

Luke took a deep breath. "I just wanted to say thank you. Kronos has been doing all he can to help me out, and he told me about you offering to help, too, even though you have every right to just leave the set if you wanted."

His words wash over me, sending icy chills down my spine—Kronos told him I offered to help?—barely registering before Luke kept babbling.

"I don't even know how it happened, Annabeth." His voice had lowered, turning into a desperate whisper. As he took a step toward me, I frowned at the anguished look on his face. "I don't know, I swear. Yeah, I enjoy a game or two, and I know I live a little lavishly, but I've never had issues, I'm serious. But these past few months—I don't know what happened." Confusion was lining his face now, and my frown deepened.

What was going on?

Obviously Kronos did not tell Luke the truth. Not quite sure how you could get "She offered to help you" from "I threatened her and the people she cares about, forcing her to do this". 

But why? I mean, from what I do know of Luke, I don't think Luke would be on board with threatening me. I could see Kronos keeping it a secret because of that. But manipulating Luke to think it was my own will?